Carl Frampton joined a select band of major World champions from Northern Ireland on Saturday night and one of them, his manager Barry McGuigan he can be the best of the lot.

Frampton also now sits alongsside Rinty Monaghan, John Caldwell, Dave McAuley, Wayne McCullough and Brian Magee as holders of major world title belts

But McGuigan said: "This kid could end up as the best Irish fighter there has ever been. He can go to featherweight and super-featherweight.

"I don't know who the greatest Irish fighter is but if gets the right fights he can really go as far as he wants to go.

"After the fight Sergio Martinez (former World middleweight champion) said that Carl is one of the most exciting fighters in the world today."

"I said a long time ago that this guy was going to be the world champion and people laughed at me. We are thrilled, the night couldn't have been better,

"You can see the fighter that he is. We believe that we are just at the bottom of the ladder now. You have to win a world title before you get real traction in your career. We had to do it the hard way. We paid a lot of money to get Kiko here and took a lot of chances.

"Kiko was phenomenally brave and his face is twice the size it normally is. Kiko Martinez is every bit as tough, if not tougher, than Leo Santa Cruz. He's a heavier puncher too, he's relentless, perpetual motion."

McGuigan confirmed that Frampton had damaged his left hand during the fight and that could delay a mandatory defence with Chris Avalos.

"We'll speak to Lindsay Tucker of the IBF first but it seems his hand has gone. There are loads of fights out there. We'll speak to the IBF and look at the injuries."